1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium reproduction apparatus capable of housing a plurality of recording mediums.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recording medium reproduction apparatus capable of housing a plurality of recording mediums will now be described while an in-car recording medium reproduction apparatus capable of housing a plurality of disks is taken as an example, with reference to a structural diagram shown in FIG. 10, a block diagram shown in FIG. 11, a representation which is shown in FIG. 12 and illustrates the structure of data stored in a memory, and a front view shown in FIG. 13.
A storage-position transport section 4 has a mechanism capable of moving a disk in direction "x" in order to insert a disk 1 into a storage section 5 from outside of a housing 13 by way of an insertion port 13a or to eject the disk 1 from the storage section 5 to the outside of the housing 13. The disk storage section 5 has a plurality of disk storage trays 5a, each capable of housing a single disk, and is provided within a housing 13 by way of a storage elevation section 6 for raising or lowering the disk storage section 5. The storage elevation section 6 moves the storage section 5 in direction "y", to thereby control the positions of the disk storage trays 5a housed in the storage section 5. As a result, a desired one is selected from the plurality of disk storage trays 5a housed in the storage section 5, and the thus-selected disk is placed in a predetermined position, thus enabling various operations, such as insertion or reproduction of the disk, as will be described later.
A reproduction-position transport section 7 is fixed to a reproduction section 8 and has a mechanism capable of moving the disk 1 between the storage section 5 and the reproduction section 8. The reproduction section 8 reads the data recorded on the disk 1 by means of rotating the disk 1 and is disposed within the housing 13 by way of a reproduction elevation section 9 which performs raising and lowering operations. The reproduction elevation section 9 moves, in direction "y", the reproduction position transport section 7 and the reproduction section 8 in an integrated manner, thus matching the reproduction transport section 7 and the reproduction section 8 in position with the storage section 5. In a case where a desired disk is to be selected and reproduced, the reproduction elevation section 9 and the storage elevation section 6 are actuated, thus rendering the reproduction section 8 level in direction "y" with the disk storage tray 5a having a desired disk stored therein. The reproduction-position transport section 7 that can be raised or lowered integrally with the reproduction section 8 takes the desired disk out of the disk storage tray 5a and transports the thus-selected disk to the reproduction section 8.
The storage elevation section 6 and the reproduction elevation section 9 are actuated in opposite directions so that the selected disk storage tray 5a and the reproduction section 8 come close to each other, thereby shortening access time required for selecting a disk as compared with that required in a case where only one of the storage elevator section 6 and the reproduction elevation section 9 is actuated.
Disk presence/absence detection SWs 10 are provided for the respective disk storage trays 5a and detect information about presence or absence of a disk in each of the disk storage trays 5a (hereinafter referred to as "disk presence/absence information") and transmits the information to a control section 12 The control section 12 stores the disk presence/absence information in a storage section 11 such that the disk presence/absence information corresponds to an absolute storage position number representing the physical position where the disk is stored (i.e., an absolute storage position). The absolute storage position number is assigned to each of the storage trays 5a, and the absolute storage position numbers are determined according to the heights of the respective storage trays 5a. For instance, provided that the absolute storage position number assigned to the storage tray 5a located at the highest position in the storage section 5 assumes the value 1, the values 2, 3, 4, . . . are assigned to the remaining storage trays 5a in accordance with the order in which the storage trays 5a are arranged. FIG. 12 shows an example structure of the data stored in the storage section 11.
On the basis of the previously-described disk presence/absence information, a disk presence/absence lamp 2a shown in FIG. 13 indicates the state of storage of the disk 1 in each of the absolute storage positions. As shown in FIG. 13, an operation section 3 has disk selection buttons 3a and a disk eject button 3b, the disk selection buttons 3a being equal in number to the number of disks. Each of the disk selection buttons 3a is labeled with an absolute storage position number and is arranged so as to correspond to the disk presence/absence information lamp 2a. Designation of an absolute storage position of a disk to be inserted, designation of a disk to be reproduced, or designation of a disk to be ejected is carried out by actuation of the corresponding one of the disk selection buttons 3a. Further, the disk eject button 3b instructs ejection of a designated disk.
The operation of the in-car recording medium reproduction apparatus required at the time of insertion of the disk 1 will now be described. First, an operator actuates any one of the disk selection buttons 3a assigned the absolute position numbers corresponding to the disk presence/absence information lamps 2a that indicate absence of a disk, thereby selecting the storage tray 5a assigned a desired absolute storage position. The control section 12 controls the storage elevation section 6, thus moving the thus-selected disk storage tray 5a to a position where a disk can be inserted into the tray (hereinafter referred to simply as a "disk-insertable position"). The insertion port 13a is now released from a locked state, thus enabling insertion of a disk. Subsequently, the storage-position transport section 4 holds the disk, which has been inserted by way of the insertion port 13a, and transports the disk to a disk storage tray 5a which in the previous operation had been arranged in the disk-insertable position. At this time, the disk presence/absence detection SW 10 provided for the disk storage tray 5a detects storage of a disk and transmits information about presence of a disk (hereinafter referred to simply as "disk-presence information") to the control section 12. As shown in FIG. 12, the control section 12 stores the disk-presence information into the storage section 11 so as to correspond to an absolute storage position number. Further, the control section 12 switches, from a dark state to an illuminated state, the disk presence/absence information lamp 2a corresponding to the absolute position number assigned to the disk storage tray 5a in which the disk has been inserted, in order to indicate insertion of the disk. Insertion of a disk is completed by way of the foregoing operations.
At the time of reproduction of the disk 1, the operator presses the appropriate one of the disk selection buttons 3a assigned the absolute position numbers corresponding to the disk presence/absence lamps 2a which indicate presence of a disk, to thereby designate the disk desired to be reproduced. The thus-designated disk is transported to the reproduction section 8 after lapse of a predetermined period of time, and the disk is reproduced by the reproduction section 8. A disk is ejected by actuation of the corresponding disk selection button 3a assigned the absolute storage position numbers corresponding to the disk presence/absence information lamps 2a which indicate presence of the disk, to thereby designate the disk to be ejected, and by means of issuing an instruction for ejecting the thus--designated disk by the operator pressing the disk eject button 3b before lapse of a predetermined period of time.
As mentioned above, since the existing recording medium reproduction apparatus does not allow removal of the disk storage section 5 from the housing 13, disks must be inserted into or ejected from the disk storage section 5 one by one by way of the insertion port 13a. For this reason, in a case where the positions of the disks that have already been stored in the disk storage section 5 are desired to be changed, the existing recording medium reproduction apparatus involves an operation of selecting a desired disk, ejecting the thus-selected disk, selecting another desired disk storage position, and inserting the disk into the thus-selected storage position. Therefore, in a case where there is a desire for changing storage positions of a large number of disks, ejection and insertion of a disk must be performed repeatedly, thereby complicating operations and increasing required labor. Particularly, in the case of an in-car recording medium reproduction apparatus whose control operations are performed in an environment where operation is difficult, insertion and ejection of a disk is laborious, consuming more time.